Nathan Halper business records, 1952-1979

This site provides access to the papers of Nathan Halper in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2011. The papers have been scanned in their entirety, and total 5,282 images.

This site provides access to the papers of Nathan Halper in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2011. The papers have been scanned in their entirety, and total 5,282 images.

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

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Collection Information

Size: 4.2 linear feet

Summary: Records of four of Nathan Halper's Provincetown galleries measure 4.2 linear feet and date from 1952-1979. The records relate to Kootz Gallery, H-C Gallery, HCE Gallery, and Sun Gallery-all based in Provincetown. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence with artists, estate executors, collectors, galleries, and museums. There are also scattered business and financial records documenting operations and sales, photographs and slides, printed materials, and one poem. Correspondents include Milton Avery, Anthony Caro, John Murray Cuddihy, Marsden Hartley, Hans Hoffman, Samuel Kootz, Robert Motherwell, David Smith, Richard Stankeiwicz, and many others.

Biographical/Historical Note

Nathan Halper (1907-1983) was an art dealer and gallery director from Provincetown, Massachusetts. Halper graduated from Columbia University in 1927, and was primarily a writer and James Joyce scholar. Beginning with a partnership with Samuel Kootz, he managed the Samuel Kootz Gallery in Provincetown from 1953-1954. With John Murray Cuddihy, Halper formed the H.C. Gallery (1956) and H.C.E. Gallery (1957-1967), the latter gallery's name being inspired by FINNEGAN'S WAKE. Halper managed the Sun Gallery for a couple of years to aid the younger artists who had started it.

Provenance

The Nathan Halper business records were donated by Nathan Halper in 1979. Additional materials were donated in 1983 and 1984 by his wife Helen Marjorie Windust Halper.

Related Materials

Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Kootz Gallery records and oral history interviews with Nathan Halper conducted by Dorothy Seckler, July 17, 1963 and by Robert Brown, July 8-August 14, 1980. Columbia University also holds Nathan Halper's papers concerning his literary scholarly work.

Funding

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

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